Life, 1898-06-30 · page 13 of 21
Life — June 30, 1898 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three distinct pieces of satirical content: **"Short" Comic Strip:** Two brief jokes about class and ethnicity. The first mocks doctors who diagnose expensive conditions (appendicitis) based on patients' ability to pay rather than medical reality. The second features ethnic stereotypes (likely Irish and German immigrants) humorously boasting about American superiority. **"So Do I" Cartoon:** A visual gag about the pun "shortens one's days"—playing on the double meaning of "days" as both time periods and daylight hours. Late rising literally shortens the daylight portion of one's day. **"Our Flag Afloat" Article:** A serious historical narrative about U.S. Navy ironclad gunboats during the Civil War (1861), contrasting wooden ships like the Constitution with modern iron-plated vessels. It describes the Confederacy's river fortifications from Cairo to the Mississippi's mouth and Union commanders Farragut and Foote's successful campaign to capture strategic points, culminating in Vicksburg's capture. The page mixes humor with genuine naval history.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Gun and Mortar Boats of the Mississippl. Short. = \ 7 OUNG DOCTOR: Did you diagnosis his case as appendicitis, or merely the cramps? O.pv Doctor: Cramps. He didn’t have money enough for appendicitis. 6s PY chiminninny! Ober we kin lick ach odder nation in the worlt alreatty ; don’t “ Wekin thot same, Dutchy. Begorra, Oi’m proud Oi'm an American!” O you regard late rising as injurious?” “Tt certainly shortens one’s days. “so Do 1.” Our Flag Afloat. YARD-ARM HISTORY OF THE UNITEO STATES. NAVY. By Midshipman Marlinspike, Ix. TRONCLADS, T is a long way from the good old wooden Constitution to the modern ironclad, and it is a stirring satisfaction to know that the leap was made by American invention. The Confederates seem to have put the idea into practice at first, and the Yankees quickly fol- lowed and produced better boats. When the war broke out in 1861 there were numerous steamers plying the Mi: sissippi and its tributaries, and _ the: were quickly utilized. They were cov- ered with shect-iron and made to do service as gunboats, and very effective they proved to be. Then began the con- flict for the control of the river, which the Confederates quickly fortified from below Cairo down to its mouth. Little by little they were obliged to give way, with Farragut pushing up from the south and Foote pushing down from the north, until finally Vicksburg was cap- tured and the ‘‘backbone of the Re- comicbooks.com